RIYADH: Pakistani artist Zainab Anwar's stunning work features vibrant colors and surreal images of South Asian and Arab cultures, focusing on issues facing women and girls in society.
Anwar, 24, was born in Pakistan and moved to Saudi Arabia at the age of eight. She spent her childhood in the capital, studying at Manarat Riyadh International School. She left the kingdom at 18 to attend university in Canada and has been back ever since.
The work of Riyadh-based Pakistani artist Zainab Anwar is inspired by her life in Saudi Arabia, with some of her pieces focusing on the challenges women and girls face in society. (Source: Adam Studio)
“I grew up here with people from different cultures. However, I don’t often see families from different cultures interacting with each other. In school, South Asians and Arabs interact with each other, but I don’t see that represented in the media.”
“I feel like our society outside of school is very segregated. This led me to create cross-cultural works to represent the South Asian experience in the Middle East.”
highLight
• Zainab Anwar, 24, was born in Pakistan and moved to Saudi Arabia when she was 8 years old.
• She spent her teenage years in the capital, attending Manarat Riyadh International School.
• Bright and colourful backdrops inspired by Pakistani truck art are Anwar’s artistic signature.
Anwar began her artistic journey by painting Pakistani women in various locations.
“Later I started drawing dark-skinned, hairy women because I felt these characteristics were embarrassing to black women. I saw girls in school bullying each other because of these beauty standards, including Arab and South Asian girls.”
The work of Riyadh-based Pakistani artist Zainab Anwar is inspired by her life in Saudi Arabia, with some of her pieces focusing on the challenges women and girls face in society. (Source: Adam Studio)
Art was an outlet for her during a time when she was struggling with mental health issues.
“Later, I began using surrealism to express the difficult feelings and experiences I had with depression and anxiety. Growing up with mental stigmas, it took me years to understand these emotions, and creating art from these feelings helped me cope.”
The work of Riyadh-based Pakistani artist Zainab Anwar is inspired by her life in Saudi Arabia, with some of her pieces focusing on the challenges women and girls face in society. (Source: Adam Studio)
“I believe that art can help bring light to difficult stories and bring peace to people who are struggling with social issues and mental illness,” she added.
“I find society has a hard time dealing with the experiences that all women and girls face, such as sexual harassment and unrealistic beauty standards,”
The work of Riyadh-based Pakistani artist Zainab Anwar is inspired by her life in Saudi Arabia, with some of her pieces focusing on the challenges women and girls face in society. (Source: Adam Studio)
Bright and colourful backdrops are Anwar’s signature style. “The main source of inspiration for the colours I use in my paintings is Pakistani culture,” she says.
“The art form practiced by truck drivers in Pakistan is called truck art. Truck drivers decorate their trucks with bright, contrasting colors to attract attention. I have been fascinated with these types of trucks since my childhood, and I believe this has led me to use bright colors in my work.”
The work of Riyadh-based Pakistani artist Zainab Anwar is inspired by her life in Saudi Arabia, with some of her pieces focusing on the challenges women and girls face in society. (Source: Adam Studio)
Anwar's work demonstrates her experimental use of media such as ink, pencil, photography, and traditional art such as embroidery. Her current work is predominantly in acrylic.
Although she portrays South Asian and Arab cultures in different ways, Anwar says women often connect with her art no matter where they come from. “They can relate to a lot of the universal experiences of being a woman that I portray through my work. People also appreciate cross-cultural work and see it as a reflection of the society we live in today.”
Anwar said she tries to capture the full range of human experience through her work, including joy and sorrow, which are “socially important for both the artist and the viewer.”
